


Cup of Tea

by TwinVax



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Drabble, Fluff, Gen, Late Night Conversations, Night Watch, Tea, Tea Drinking, taking a lesson from uncle iroh just a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 09:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19170496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinVax/pseuds/TwinVax
Summary: Cad shows Nott how to brew the perfect cup of tea.





	Cup of Tea

Nott sat beside Caduceus during their watch, staring at the fire and the setup he had placed close by, when he had decided it a good time for some tea. 

After a few quiet moments of him watching the teapot as the water slowly heated, he sighed pleasantly and looked down at her, eyes half closed and smile characteristically kind and unworried, “Would you like to learn how to brew the perfect cup of tea? I haven’t taught this to anyone else, it would probably do you some good.” he suggested, voice calm instead of sounding judging. 

She frowned, thinking on it a second, before she sighed and nodded, not finding an excuse she could use to refuse, “Sure. I guess that’s a good idea.” 

He hummed, smile widening slightly, “Great,” he said, flipping open his satchel as he retrieved his tea supplies and some leaves she assumed were from a corpse and also were what made the tea have any sort of flavor, “You need to gently place the leaves into the water, before it gets too hot, and patiently wait for the temperature to get to the perfect heat.”

“Why?” Nott asked, taking the leaves from his hands. 

Caduceus pulled the pot off the fire with a stick, pulling it near them for her to drop the things he gave her in, “Too slowly, and not enough heat, and it will lose the flavor and blend, dissolving into the water. It would be like, well, just water with some leaves at the bottom, I suppose.”

She glanced up at him after she sat back down, unsure, “And too hot?” 

He shut his eyes, calmly placing the pot back in it’s place, sighing through his nose, “Too hot, and the tea will burn, and taste just awful. No one wants burnt tea, it’s such a sad sight. It’s very unfortunate. It’s why you need to be patient with it, watch it as it boils and nurture it. Take care of it, and after awhile, when it’s done, it will take good care of you.”

Nott stared up at him, trusting how wise his words were even though she personally didn’t understand the sentiment completely, and raised her eyebrows when he shifted. 

“Ah...” he whispered, pulling the pot off the heat, “There you are. You can just smell that it was made right, can’t you?” he asked quietly, pouring a cup for himself before he handed her a mug and poured some for her as well. 

She watched the steam as it floated from the mug, taking a careful sniff when she got a whiff of the scent, and had to admit it did smell quite good, “Which tea is this? Is it from a person?”

He shook his head, “No, I’ve run out of leaves from, ah, ‘dead people’, for now, at least. No, that’s just regular jasmine tea, but it’s just as good, I think.” he assured, sipping from his cup. “You need to be especially patient with jasmine, it can be shy, but it’s wonderful. Do you like it?”

She looked into the mug again, unsure for a second before she finally took a sip, eyes widening at the flavor. It wasn’t alcohol, but it definitely tasted better than she expected. 

“I do, it tastes wonderfully, Mr. Clay. Thank you.” she said, taking another small sip. 

Caduceus smiled wider, nodding quietly to himself as he turned away, going back to tending to his tea, the silence companionable between them as they shared in their tea. 


End file.
